China Advocates Reduction in Death Sentences

China, the world's biggest executor of convicts, should reduce its use of the death penalty and stop humiliating death row prisoners with public parades, the state's top legal bodies have declared ahead of their annual report to parliament tomorrow.

In an apparent move towards a fairer and more humane justice system, the supreme court, chief prosecutor and ministries of police and justice also called for an end to the use of torture during police interrogations.

Human rights organisations said, however, that without a full reform of the legal system, the declaration will go the way of previous promises of change that turned out to be little more than window-dressing.

China accounts for at least 75% all the court-ordered executions carried out in the world, but the true scale of its death penalty system is hidden by secrecy. Based on reports in the domestic media and other sources, Amnesty International says China executed at least 1,770 people in 2005. Along with unreported killings, estimates of the annual death toll are as high as 10,000.

The execution system has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. The domestic media have been allowed to report on several fatal miscarriages of justice, international groups have condemned the sale of organs from executed prisoners, and human rights organisations are lobbying for change ahead of the Beijing Olympics next year, when China wants to create an image of itself as a modern 21st century civilisation.

The government insists the death penalty is necessary to maintain order in the world's most populous nation, but it has taken steps to improve its application. From the start of this year, the supreme court was given the final say in all death penalty cases, reducing the powers of provincial judges.

In a joint statement, the justice ministry and its co-signatories called for a more cautious approach to death sentencing.

"Our country still cannot abolish the death penalty but should gradually reduce its application," the document said. "But where there is a possibility someone should not be executed, then without exception the person should not be killed."

It also forbids local officials from parading convicts through the streets at anti-crime rallies and called for tighter implementation of regulations covering interrogations of suspects and the gathering of evidence. Confession obtained through torture will be inadmissible in a court, and police required to "ensure crime suspects and defendants fully exercise their rights to defence and other procedural rights, and avoid stripping or restricting suspects and defendants lawful rights and so creating cases of injustice".

Human rights groups welcomed the announcement but questioned whether the guidelines would be implemented. The central government banned torture many years ago, but it is still common. Parades of criminals were prohibited nine years ago, but continue to take place in rural areas.

"This is another welcome sign that the central authorities wants to improve the death penalty system, but this is only an opinion; what is really needed are fundamental structural reforms," said Mark Allison of Amnesty International.

"The problem is the system. There are numerous regulations calling on the police not to use torture but it still happens. What is needed are practical changes such as mechanisms for people to complain, better access for lawyers and independent investigations of police accused on wrongdoing."